Induction-heating systems for preventing ice formation on aircraft control surfaces have several advantages over resistive-heating systems. Electrically, induction heating is more efficient than resistive heating. However, induction heating still requires large amounts of energy to heat an area, such as a leading-edge region of an airplane wing.
Acoustic methods, used for de-icing aircraft control surfaces, usually involve sending strong acoustic pulses to areas where ice has formed to remove the accumulated ice using vibration. However, an acoustic coupling between acoustic transducers and surfaces, covered with ice, is required. The complexity of such a coupling reduces the net efficiency of acoustic methods for ice removal.